April Tid Bits

 For her Living Museum project, Sydney wanted to be Marie Antoinette. We talked about some things she could include on her poster and she really wanted to recreate this from the Diamond Necklace Scandal.

Turns out the local Hobby Lobby had a lot of stuff to work with! Sydney meticulously cut everything to size and then I punched holes in the foam board, strung twisty ties through it to hold everything in place and voila (pun)! We had it! 

The dress was its own scandal- I ordered one that simply wouldn't work so I had to order another and while I was at it, threw in the wig. Luckily, everything came in the nick of time. 

Sydney did so well with her monologue!

Brent sent me this screenshot after General Conference and it made me laugh!

Some flower arrangements. I really love the tulips which are so simple but beautiful.

Jeanne though these were fake- haha!

Ireland was inducted into National Junior Honors Society. Brent and I made a bet on which word would be used the most during the ceremony. He went with "service" and I bet on "excellence." Brent beat me out so next time I'm going with leadership or character. Those were biggies.

So proud of this girl!

After the 5th grade performance, Evie rushed to give Sydney a hug. She's her reading buddy and Evie has a sister in Sydney's grade and another in Ireland's grade so lots of connections there. Her mother told me Sydney has made a significant impact on her and Evie just adores Sydney.

Sydney's friend Molly matriculates to Huntley Middle School next year so they are getting in the squeezes as much as possible!

The elementary school principal is retiring after this year so I had to get a photo of all the girls with her! Say "West is Best!"

Shopping at Tiffany's (see the Audrey Hepburn portrait in the background?) and I have to say Ireland looks pretty awesome in these sunglasses!

Happy Easter! I swear we did baskets and everything but I didn't get a picture somehow. Boo.

Trip to the MOSI with Sydney and Gita! 

I have no idea why Gita put her face on the side of the ice wall. I also don't know why everyone has to melt their fingertips into it but it's a thing, for sure. 

The U505 exhibit always makes an impression on us! Can you tell the girls didn't want a picture together?

Individuals! Much better! Look at those smiles!

Getting their names listed in the Blue Paradox exhibit.

Sydney got a little ahead of herself on the hamster wheel.

Yet another appointment at UIHC for Ireland.

We learned they have two therapy dogs who work specifically with children. One can get in bed with the ones going through infusions for cancer treatment. The other has a large head so when a child is getting a shot or blood draw can put his head in their lap to distract them. I'm such a fan of therapy dogs!

Ireland's juvenile arthritis is not enough for her to be hospitalized so that's always a win, but you can see the trepidation on her face as she jumps for joy- she was worried about landing on her sore knees!

We were able to stop by Krystal's coffee shop as we left town and Ireland picked up this hoodie in support of cancer research. It's now her favorite hoodie!

I froze at several cross country meets and marveled at my girl Gita who runs in the wind and cold... intentionally!

This sparked an interesting conversation with my friend Malcolm who graduated from Harvard in Astronomy. Apparently there are other names like The Extremely Large Telescope and the Giant Magellan Telescope. Apparently the Overwhelmingly Large Telescope was cancelled to focus resources on the Extremely Large Telescope.

Brent's parents came for a visit and treated us all to dinner at DC Cobbs in Woodstock. BJ was pretty happy with his order!

We were very grateful for a hot meal we did not have to prepare!

That's April!